It was a couple of weeks ago that I lay on Bondi Beach in Sydney. I looked at people surfing and thought how cool it would be surfing on the waves. That same night a saw a compilation of the best surfing actions in Australia, which fired up my desire to surf even more. Unfortunately I only had one night left in Sydney so it was too late for me to sign up for surfcamp in Australia.

Raglan is the one of the best surfspots in New Zealand. The waves are great. A special feature of this surfspot is that the beaches are covered with black sand. Another special feature of this place is that all the surf breaks are left hand point breaks. No idea what that means but I've been told that there aren't many left hand point breaks in the world. That's why it's a special surfspot and loved by many surfers like for American singers Jack Johnson and Ben Harper who regularly visit Raglan. Me and three other Kiwibus travellers went to this famous surfspot.

We stayed at the Karioi Lodge. A nice hostel in the rainforest on a hill just outside Raglan. The atmosphere in this hostel is great. It's exactly what you can expect from a surfers hostel, very relaxed, laid back and free pool games! There was also a long zipperline (Flying Fox). Late at night we would walk up to the zipper line to glide down. Very exciting because at night you couldn't see where you were going at and due to the high speeds you would swing up really high at the end of the zipper line. Besides playing pool games and going down with the zipper line, we also played card games. The most popular game was Shithead. It only takes five minutes to learn this game and after that, you will be addicted to this game. I think we've played this game for many hours a day. There are also some hiking trails around the hostel. These are nice walks through the rainforest. Not difficult in general but when it rains, the tracks can be very muddy. At night you can see many glow worms around the hostel. Very nice. This is also the place where I've tasted Vegemite for the first and most likely the last time. Not nice.

Raglan is a very small town. Not much to do there. There is one main street and that's pretty much it. You only go into town for groceries. There are a few small restaurants and bars. All the surf beaches are just outside town.

As I mentioned before, Raglan has great surf beaches. Well, I signed up for a half-day surf lesson. All gears (wetsuit and surfboard) are included. First thing I noticed was the black sand. The beach is actually not black, but it is certainly darker than most beaches I've seen. The other thing that caught my eyes were the waves. Man, these are huge! The waves I've seen are about 1,5 metres high and the waves further into the sea are even higher. It's a struggle to get into the sea to surf because the waves keep hitting you back to the beach. However I managed to catch several waves which was really cool. It's quite amazing how fast you're going when surfing on a wave. It was quite easy to stand up on a surfboard however a few people in my class just couldn't stand on a surfboard. I guess you need a little bit of "feeling" to balance on a board. I can't make turns yet but they can teach you that if you take more lessons.

If you want to learn surfing, you have to be a confident swimmer. Me and several others in my class got a little bit too enthusiastic with surfing. We surfed too far from our instructors just to surf on bigger waves but in no time we got caught in a rip current. Luckily we realized what was happening and managed to get out of this current (thanks to diving lessons), but two other guys had to be safed by the instructors. I'm glad to have taken a surf lesson so I now know how it feels to stand on a surfboard. I don't think this is a sport for me though.

Raglan is a great place to surf and to relax. A bit too relaxing for me apparantly because I've hardly taken any pictures here. (sorry!). However, this relaxing place was great because I needed all the energy for my next stop.

Next destination: Tongariro Crossing (Taupo).

Eindelijk ontsnapt aan de overvolle bus. Het is heel raar gelopen. Ik had een buspas gekocht en zou een bepaalde route afleggen. Op het kantoor van de Kiwi Experience vroeg ik om een reisschema. Zo weet ik waar en wanneer ik ergens ben of moet opstappen. In dat schema stond het plaatsje Raglan. Het is strand en surfen, meer niet. Ik zei dat ik daar eigenlijk niet naar toe wilde gaan (dat was niet een plaats die ik zou bezoeken volgens de pas die ik had gekocht), maar uiteindelijk dacht ik laat maar zitten zoals het is dus ik ga naar Raglan. In de Kiwi bus moesten we invullen waneer ik naar Raglan zou gaan. Die dag had het kantoor gemaild dat ze Raglan uit mijn schema hadden gehaald, maar doordat mijn chauffeur 's avonds de informatie over mijn vertrek naar Raglan had gefaxt. Zei hij dat dat de e-mail overschreef. Dus ik moest naar Raglan gaan.

Normaal gesproken regelt de buschauffeur ook de accommodatie. Ik had ingevuld dat ik geen accom. heb. Ik werd opgepikt vanuit Waitomo en met nog een ander meisje werden we in Raglan afgezet. De bus waarmee we reden was ingehuurd en geen kiwi bus. De chauffeur zette mij af bij een hostel, maar daar was geen bed voor mij. Een ander hostel werd niet opgenomen. Ik was echt niet van plan om 60 dollar voor een kamer alleen te betalen. Uiteindelijk was er nog een bed voor mij in de bergen. 8 km  van het dorp. Geen restaurant of bar in de buurt. Ik heb zelf eten moeten kopen om vanavond te kunnen koken. Ik hoop dat me goed afgaat. Ik ga kijken of ik een wandeling langs het strand kan maken.

Ik vergeet helemaal te zeggen dat ik vannochtend nog naar een angora scheerplaats ben geweest. Zulke schattige konijnen. Jammer dat ik mijn foto's niet op internet kan zetten.

The Tongue & Groove Cafe in Raglan is a funky, laid-back, and very unique cafe on the main drag in Raglan. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was there for a Sunday brunch and found it to be quite good. The cafe is definitely funky. Our table was half a surfboard. The chairs were old bus seats. The menu was written on a chalkboard, colored with lots of Kiwi slang. I tried the "Hell Fry," described as "fried eggs on toasties, with small pots, toms, saucies and mushies." Translation: fried eggs on toast with potatoes, tomatoes, sausages and mushrooms. Others in my party tried the pancakes with bananas, pineapple, yoghurt and honey. The servings were huge! I thoroughly enjoyed myself here -- plenty of tasty food, interesting sights and funk. Oh, and good coffee too.

David and Wendy picked us up at the Novotel and drove us out to Raglan on the west coast of the North Island.  It was a busy day in Raglan, as we found out later there was a reggae concert there that day.  Raglan is sort of a hippie beach community, fairly artsy and lots of fun.  There were lots of folks in dreadlocks, obviously there for the reggae fest.  We enjoyed a huge breakfast at the Tongue and Groove, a funky restaurant reviewed below.

We walked around the town a bit checking out the little art shops and other stores.  I got some necklaces for my sons made of whale bone that were in the shape of a whale's tale.  We also had to stop at David's favorite ice cream place and have a cone with hokey pokey ice cream.  Hokey Pokey has some little candies in it and is a real treat.

We took a drive out to a place where we could walk up a hill and look out over the coastline to the Tasman Sea toward Australia.  The views were stunning!  We saw lots of birds but not a lot of other wild life.

We also got to check out a water fall called Bridal Falls and I hiked down to the falls with David and Wendy.  It was a bit steep for Mom and Dad.  The falls were really spectacular -- a ribbon of water falling into a pool below.  It reminded me of Hawaii.

We headed back into Hamilton for dinner at Little India.  We enjoyed a great family style meal with chicken vindaloo, chicken tikka masala, rogan josh, prawns in coconut curry, veggies and 3 kinds of naan.  I was in heaven, and Mom and Dad enjoyed it too.  They don't get a lot of Indian food in Wyoming!

David and Wendy were the great tour guides!  I am fortunate to have such good friends down under.

After some much needed sleep a friend and I decided to go to Raglan. It was rainy and cold out so it was not the Raglan I remembered. The drive is beautiful from Hamilton to Raglan but the winding road is the last thing you want when hungover! I had to ask my friend to stop a few times for "fresh air" in what I played off as a good photo opportunity. Raglan on any other day is wonderful and a great spot to surf. There were a few surfers out but with the rain and COLD air, it didn't look appealing to me. It's a quaint little town filled with cool shops and good food (try Vinnie's..mmmm). Raglan is the kind of place that would be nice to live because it is so relaxed and quiet but then only a few hours from a big city (Auckland).

Last time round we were unable to go to Hot Water Beach because the tides were wrong, but this time round we could catch it as long as we were at the beach for 7.30am so it was an early start! Don't be fooled into thinking that while traveling I get lots of lie-ins, I don't! I get up earlier most days than I would at home for work and we are active all day! Down at the beach we started digging a hole with our spades which filled with hot water. We had to fight against the incoming tide and found it difficult to strike a balance between the scalding hot water and the infrequent infloods of cold water. Trying to locate a moderate place to stand meant I actually burnt the soles of my feet! I must have been standing directly over a split leading down to the lava pool below... Some people were brave enough to get in but with the cool morning air temperature and the fine balance of hot and cold proving a problem I was content just to paddle in the water. Soon the tide came in though and we had to give in.

We stopped for breakfast at Paeroa, the home of L&P, where we have stopped before, but this time we were prevailed upon to have a photo with the giant bottle that sits in the centre of town. It wears a moustache for Movember! Then we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls, which was used for a shampoo advert at home; either Herbal Essences or Timotei we think, and had some silly photos taken.

We were headed to do some zorbing but we got stuck in the traffic jam from an accident for an hour so we couldn't do anymore stops and were late to make Raglan for the surfing lessons. At Raglan I simply chilled out with a book in the sunshine, cooked some dinner and had an early night again - woo for me!

Up early this morning and we drove towards Hamilton first for supplies, passing by a view of the Alderman Islands and learned a little bit about the Kiwi bird. The Kiwi bird is New Zealand's native bird, but like many flightless birds it suffered by the introduction of non-native species who predated on them, the most voracious and hated of which is the possum. The possum is well-loved in Australia as a national animal, but in New Zealand it is responsible for the degradation of many native bird species, and also for the destruction of much vegetation and natural habitat. It was introduced as a hunting species initially and populations were kept down by shooting and many people made good money selling the pelts, but when the fur trade came under attack, hunting stopped and the populations spiralled out of control. Now the national bird is an endangered species and much work goes into maintaining the remaining population.

We stopped in Paihia for coffee on the way, which is the home of the national drink of New Zealand, L&P. So the story goes there was a natural spring locally and a business was set up to sell the water, but then they added lemon and a fruit called Paihia and so was born the national favourite. The first time you drink it it tastes a bit bizarre, it seems to taste like no fruit I've tasted before, but I persisted and eventually decided it tasted much like I remembered Mountain Dew which makes it a lot more palatable.

We then raced on to Raglan, one of New Zealand's most famous surfing town. When we arrived the surfing people were hurried off to the beach, and the rest of us explored the amazing Kariori hostel. The hostel is buried into the side of a coastal clifftop, and to access any part of the hostel you follow winding paths up the hilllside. The lounge was a huge wooden building, with free pool table, loads of comfy chairs and sofas, TV, videos, and a massive dining table. The staff kitchen was conjoined, and while guest food couldn't be kept here they were allowed full use of it to cook. Further down the hillside was the guest kitchen, a $2 sauna, an outside eating area. Elsewhere was a rope 'confidence course', a 'Flying Fox' zipwire, and a sports barn with more comfy sofas and stereo for use when drinking after 10pm, or for basketball, table tennis or surf lessons. There were several bush walks to go on, varying in lengths and difficulties. We were going to head on the bush walk, but since it was so sunny we decided to walk down to the beach. We walked down the road and down to the beach and stepped across the stones for a while until we stopped on a log and then headed back.

Back at the hostel I had bought in to a group mexican meal so we all got together and cooked in the staff kitchen. It was one of the best meals I've had for a while, and we played 'The Pirates of the Carribean' card game to decide who would do the washing up. I lost! We played some scrabble, at which I had an unfair advantage over the Germans and the Swedes being English! And then headed to our lovely comfortable room.

Woke again to a rainy morning, warm but rainy.  Breakfast was quite a traumatic start to the day.  After packing everything up we were sat in the car enjoying a peaceful breakfast in perfect surroundings.  We sat in the car watching the ducks waddling around the site, including one which had 6 ducklings around her, very cute.  We were just looking and admiring, noticing how one had got left behind but was doing a little duckling run to catch up when ...SWOOOOSH... a seagull had swept down and had it in its mouth, within seconds it flew up and back down again, in 30 seconds mother duck was left with 5 ducklings and one very satisfied seagull!  We (along with the rest of the campers) were quite traumatised by this gruesome display of nature. We felt like we had just been on the set of a David Attenbourgh documentary.

We left campsite about 8am, to go to see some gloworm caves, about 1/2 hour from the campsite.  We took the guided tour through the caves.  It was really spectacular.  The caves themselves were amazing with all the staligmites and staligtites, and the little gloworms were really good, like looking into the night sky on a clear night.  It was well worth the visit, probably much better than the famous Waitimo Caves, we certainly got to see a lot of glowing little spots.

We then set off on our epic journey down the North Island, we had a bizarre intention of making it to Tongirairo National Park but it became increasingly unlikely.  We saw lots of varied NZ scenery on the way, a dense rainforest, the Tasman Sea and many typical NZ towns.  By late afternoon we were opnly just driving through Auckland so made a final decision that we would find somewhere else to stay.  We decided on Raglan, the most western point in New Zealand which is very popular with surfers, apparently it has the best left hand breaks in the world - whatever that means!  We arrived at about 7pm, the hostel was full, we tried a motel but it was too expensive, then found a hotel right in the centre of town - $70 a night (about 25 pounds) for the room.  The hotel was a wooden building with a balcony and veranda, as you would expect an old fashioned NZ building to be.  For tea we ate in the hotel restaurant, both had a 2 course meal and a bottle of NZ wine - all for 30 pounds - its good to be back in New Zealand.  After a short wander around town we went back to our room to decide our plans for tomorrow - should we stay or should we go, it is really nice here.